Ricardo Iorio

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Ricardo Iorio (born on June 25, 1962 in Ciudadela, Gran Buenos Aires) is an Argentine heavy metal musician who participated in various of the most important metal bands in the country.

He was one of the founders of V8 (1982-1986) and later founded the successful band Hermética (1986-1994). He's currently the singer and main composer of Almafuerte, a band that already has more than 11 years of existence. His songs are realistic urban stories dealing with the life of lower classes, as well as Argentine 'metalheads'. Even though he played the bass with every band he integrated, he has recently chosen Beto Ceriotti to be the new bassist of Almafuerte, remaining as the singer and main composer of the band (mostly lyrics).

Extremely nationalist, Iorio continuously proclaims in his songs and in the media the pride in being Argentine and Argentine history, and mixes native music styles like tango, Indian and gaucho culture with the heavy metal base of Almafuerte. The young people who goes to Almafuerte's shows consider him to be like a patriotic guru, and often sing the national anthem and praise their country, something very rare on these days. His nationalistic rhetoric and his rude manners often receive critics and accusations of fascism/antisemitism, but he denies such claims.

He left Buenos Aires city to live in the countryside, where the pampa starts to turn into Patagonia, with his two daughters, Sofía and Mariana. Iorio's wife, Ana Mourin, killed herself in 2001. Iorio has also participated in several projects outside metal music, such as with folk musician León Gieco, Rubén Patagonia and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs' bassist Flavio Cianciarulo (they recorded an entire album called "Peso Argento"). He also had a great friendship with the late argentinian guitar player Norberto Napolitano, also known as Pappo, who invited Iorio to record some songs for his "Pappo y Amigos" album.